Re: [IRCA] reports of SRF-59 low sensitivity....

[D1028Gary@xxxxxxx]

Hi Steve,
 
     Actually, the comment about sending all the  SRF-59's to you for 
alignment was a total joke, that should not be taken  seriously!  The amount of time 
a skilled technician would take in doing  this alignment is cost-prohibitive, 
considering the $15 radio price.   Having said that, I could easily foresee a 
situation where someone could become  very emotionally attached to his SRF-59 
(like I am to my 3-TP unit), and be  willing to pay a great premium to have an 
alignment performed by a skilled  technician... hopefully not me!  I have 
considered locking myself in a  rubber room, doing 5 SRF-59 alignments (on new 
units) in one cold-turkey  shot, comparing their sensitivity to a fixed 
reference like the 2010, and  sending them out to "strategic partners" to use as a 
benchmark in  pocket-radio shootouts.  The plan sounds great... it's the rubber 
room that  makes me hesitate.  Frankly, it's not easy to make this alignment 
process  pleasant (at least for me).
 
     Between you and me, reports of SRF-59 sensitivity  variations are coming 
in from all over the map.  As you may know, Kevin  Schanilec of Bainbridge 
Island has developed an "audio phasing" technique,  which mixes the audio 
outputs of two SRF-59's to cancel out local  signals.  Guess what?  Everyone 
purchasing two SRF-59's to try this  has been discovering that one is more sensitive 
than the other.  Guess who  they want to correct the problem?
 
     Concerning your aligned SRF-59's sensitivity being  significantly lower 
than a 2010 without synch, there are several  possibilities:  Possibly your 
2010 is more sensitive than my 3  units (has it been completely stock since 
manufacture, and are you the original  purchaser?).  Possibly a component within 
the SRF-59 apart from the  transformer has a quality-control variation which is 
affecting ultimate  sensitivity (we have no schematic).  Possibly I have a 
"hot" SRF-59.   Possibly one of us has RF noise in the local environment which 
causes more of a  problem to the 2010 than the SRF-59, or vice versa.  All of 
these questions  will be answered once standard, reference SRF-59's are aligned 
and compared with  a fixed benchmark (either your 2010 or mine, but until we 
are sure they are  identical in sensitivity, not both).  As you recall from 
the Navy days,  fixed calibration standards are the basis for all electronic 
measurements.   When we start to apply this strict standard to the SRF-59 
alignments, Steve, I  am sure we will begin to get definite answers to our questions. 
 I  have promised Kevin and Bruce Bacon of Idaho to perform an alignment on  
their "weak" SRF-59's, and compare them thoroughly with my recently-aligned 
one  (and the 2010).  Starting with this, we three "core Ultralight fanatics"  
hope to have some definite answers for everybody.
 
     Thanks for your kind comments on my poetry... now  you know the reason 
why I try to stick to real estate and electronics!
 
                                                      73,  Gary    



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